Premier League: Newcastle United 1 QPR 0

Mark Hughes’ first game in charge of Queens Park Rangers ended in defeat as Leon Best’s goal handed Newcastle United a 1-0 win on Sunday.

After a positive start from the visitors at Sports Direct Arena, Best struck in the 37th minute to lift the hosts above Liverpool and into sixth place in the English Premier League.

QPR, meanwhile, remain in the relegation zone following Blackburn Rovers’ 3-1 win over Fulham on Saturday.

Danny Guthrie came into the Newcastle midfield and Best partnered Shola Ameobi in attack in the absence of key duo Cheick Tiote and Demba Ba, who are both away at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

With Joey Barton suspended and Alejandro Faurlin ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury, Akos Buzsaky partnered Shaun Derry in central midfield for QPR.

Martin O’Neill has revitalised a similarly struggling Sunderland side since taking over from Steve Bruce and it looked as if the arrival of Hughes might reinvigorate Rangers, who have failed to win a single one of their last eight Premier League fixtures.

They were defensively organised and looked bright when attacking early in Sunday’s match, with Buzsaky testing Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul from distance before Shaun Wright-Phillips clipped the top of the crossbar from the edge of the box.

Alan Pardew’s men, on the other hand, lethargically passed the ball around their defence and midfield but struggled to spring into life in the opposition half. They also lost key midfielder Yohan Cabaye only 20 minutes into the match after he was caught on the ankle by Derry.

Ironically, it was the substitution of the Frenchman that seemed to bring the home side into the game. The combination of the crowd’s displeasure at the challenge from Derry and their delight at the introduction of Hatem Ben Arfa provoked more vocal support and Newcastle responded accordingly.

Their approach play improved dramatically and, after some neat hold-up play from Ameobi, Ryan Taylor found Best in the penalty area. The Irish striker moved inside his marker with a wonderful touch and fired past Paddy Kenny to open the scoring.

Jay Bothroyd was guilty of spurning two good chances early in the second half – the first of which he may have buried had it come on his preferred left foot – as QPR continued to show they were far from out of the game.

Newcastle were sloppy and perhaps missing the solid base and discipline usually provided by Cabaye and Tiote in the centre of the park.

Best and Ben Arfa were seeing plenty of the ball but too often coughed up possession, making it difficult for Pardew’s team to maintain any attacking pressure.

Newcastle may have been somewhat low on quality in midfield and attack on the day but their defence delivered a sharper performance. The unit of Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini and Davide Santon has now helped United to three consecutive victories and allowed just one goal in the process.

Wright-Phillips was moved into central midfield to accommodate substitute Tommy Smith, though often found himself picking up the ball in too deep a position to threaten the Newcastle back four.

Federico Macheda was introduced in place of Buzsaky but cut an isolated figure in attack and Pardew’s side held out with few problems to secure three points.